Category: Science

A tale of two presidents: How L.A. fires show the difference between Biden and Trump

Los Angeles Times

A tale of two presidents: How L.A. fires show the difference between Biden and Trump

Taryn Luna, Liam Dillon, Alex Wigglesworth – January 8, 2025

SANTA MONICA, CA, JANUARY 8, 2025: President of the United States Joe Biden, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and United States Senator Alex Padilla, from left, attend a briefing on the recent fires at Santa Monica Fire Station #5 on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
President Biden, Gov. Gavin Newsom, middle, and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla attend a briefing in Santa Monica on the L.A. County fires on Jan. 8, 2025. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

As communities across Los Angeles County burned Wednesday in a spate of wildfires, the crisis highlighted the stark difference between the incoming and outgoing presidents and their relationships with California.

President Biden stood next to Gov. Gavin Newsom, a fellow Democrat, at a fire station in Santa Monica and pledged to provide full federal support to the state.

“We’re prepared to do anything and everything for as long as it takes to contain these fires,” Biden said.

Read more: Live coverage: 2 dead and more than 1,000 homes, businesses, other buildings destroyed in L.A. County fires.

Hours earlier, Republican President-elect Donald Trump, just days away from being sworn in on Jan. 20, blamed “Newscum and his Los Angeles crew” for the unfolding calamity.

In a post on his social media site, Truth Social, Trump said the Democratic governor “refused to sign a water restoration declaration,” which he alleged would have allowed millions of gallons of rain and snowmelt to flow south to the areas on fire.

“Now the ultimate price is being paid,” Trump wrote. “I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA!”

The morning missive from the president-elect, as communities burned and thousands of people fled their homes, echoed his prior threats to withhold wildfire funding if Newsom declined to go along with Trump’s water policy for California. Water experts have said, however, that Trump’s water proposals probably will encounter substantial obstacles, and that his claims attempting to link water deliveries to the firefighting response were inaccurate.

Read more: At least 5 dead in L.A. County firestorms; more than 1,000 structures lost.

Though Newsom praised Trump during his first term for approving federal disaster funding for wildfires, the governor has since said he had to “kiss the ring” to convince Trump to help.

Newsom has commended Biden for not playing political games during disasters.

“It’s impossible for me to express the level of appreciation and cooperation we’ve received from the White House and this administration,” Newsom said in Santa Monica on Wednesday.

Presidents have wide discretion when it comes to disaster aid, which could be in jeopardy in the future if Trump follows through with his threats after his inauguration.

California and other states receive most federal wildfire aid through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including direct payments and services to homeowners and renters whose properties were damaged, and public assistance for things such as search-and-rescue teams, debris removal and infrastructure repair.

States need to show that an incident is of such a severity and magnitude that a response is beyond the state’s capability in order to qualify. The governor must request, and the president must declare, a major disaster and then approve any aid the governor requests.

FEMA decides whether a federal disaster declaration is warranted and issues a recommendation to the president. In the past, presidents have followed that recommendation, but there’s nothing in the law that requires them to do so.

Read more: Could Trump really cut off wildfire aid for California? Absolutely

Trump initially refused to approve federal aid to California for wildfires in 2018 until a National Security Council staffer showed him that Orange County had a dense concentration of voters who supported him, according to Politico.

In another example, in 2020, FEMA rejected a request to provide aid to California for a half-dozen wildfires and then reversed course the next day after Republicans made appeals to Trump and the governor and president spoke over the phone. 

State Sen. Ben Allen, a Democrat who lives and grew up in Santa Monica, attended Wednesday’s briefing with the president and governor. Allen said it was obvious from Newsom’s remarks since the fires began that the governor was worried about federal support for disasters under the Trump administration. Allen said Biden’s response was remarkably quick and thorough. But he said he couldn’t imagine that Trump would ignore Californians in any time of need.

“I have every expectation that the new administration will assist fellow Americans in moments of vulnerability,” Allen said. “That’s what every White House has done, whether Democrat or Republican, throughout history. There’s no reason why they shouldn’t continue to provide the same level of assistance and service that previous presidents have.”

Despite Trump’s feisty rhetoric, he did travel to California as president to survey fire damage and meet with Newsom. Trump toured Paradise in 2018 in the aftermath of the state’s deadliest wildfire. And he met with Newsom in Sacramento after a spate of wildfires in 2020.

Newsom and Trump traded blows on social media, in the news media and in the courts during the president-elect’s first term, but remained cordial in texts, calls and even in person. But that relationship appears to have soured during Biden’s presidency.

Newsom has said Trump did not return a call he made in November to congratulate the incoming president on winning the election. An aide to Newsom said the two men have still not spoken.

The president-elect continued to blame Newsom on Truth Social for the blazes on Wednesday: “As of this moment, Gavin Newscum and his Los Angeles crew have contained exactly ZERO percent of the fire. It is burning at levels that even surpass last night. This is not government.”

Trump also took shots at Biden.

“NO WATER IN THE FIRE HYDRANTS, NO MONEY IN FEMA,” he posted. “THIS IS WHAT JOE BIDEN IS LEAVING ME. THANKS JOE!”

Peter Gleick, a hydroclimatologist and senior fellow of the Oakland-based Pacific Institute, said Trump’s comments attempting to link California water policy with the water-supply problems facing firefighters in Southern California were “blatantly false, irresponsible and politically self-serving.”

“There is no water shortage in Southern California — the state’s reservoirs are all at, or above, levels normally expected for this time of year. The problem with water supply for the fires is entirely the result of the massive immediate demands for firefighting water, broken or damaged pipes and pumps, and homeowners leaving hoses and sprinklers running in hopes of saving property.”

Staff writer Ian James contributed to this report.

Trump addresses my top issues: Renaming Gulf of Mexico and invading Greenland

USA Today – Opinion

Trump addresses my top issues: Renaming Gulf of Mexico and invading Greenland

Rex Huppke, USA TODAY – January 7, 2025

As a devout supporter of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, I voted for him because I knew he would address the issues that most impact my life.

I’m talking, of course, about militarily overtaking the largely inhospitable Danish territory of Greenland, renaming the Gulf of Mexico and outlawing windmills.

So you can imagine my delight when my hero, President-elect Trump, gave a news conference Tuesday and strongly addressed those crucial subjects, along with other things that matter deeply to REAL AMERICANS like me, including shower water pressure and making Canada part of the United States.

I voted for Trump for 1 reason: American invasion of Greenland
President-elect Donald Trump makes remarks at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on Jan. 7, 2025.
President-elect Donald Trump makes remarks at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on Jan. 7, 2025.

Refusing to rule out using the military to take control of Greenland, Trump, who I voted for because I knew he would keep us out of wars, said: “Well, we need Greenland for national security purposes. … People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to it. But if they do, they should give it up.”

YES! I was predominantly a one-issue voter, and that issue was the exorbitant cost of seal meat. By threatening our ally Denmark and using military force if necessary, the Trump administration can proudly claim Greenland as a U.S. territory, dramatically lowering the cost of seal meat for American consumers like myself.  That will allow me and my fellow MAGA supporters to affordably make Suaasat, a Greenlandic soup, AS IS OUR RIGHT AS AMERICANS!

Opinion: Trump’s election got certified. Why didn’t liberals do their patriotic insurrection?

Some voters were concerned about egg prices. TRUE PATRIOTS were concerned about seal-meat prices.

And Trump is on the case.

I am very worried about the name ‘Gulf of Mexico’

The soon-to-be president also announced a change that has been talked about for years in the rural diners I frequent with my fellow forgotten American men and women.

“We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America,” Trump said. “Gulf of America – what a beautiful name.”

President-elect Donald Trump announces the Gulf of Mexico will get a new name: the Gulf of America.
President-elect Donald Trump announces the Gulf of Mexico will get a new name: the Gulf of America.

SO BEAUTIFUL! And also, so directly impactful on the quality of my day-to-day life.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to miss work because I was feeling down about having to give Mexico credit for that 218,0000-square-mile, semienclosed oceanic basin that I know was BUILT BY AMERICANS.

America for sure owns the Gulf of AMERICA, people!

As Trump said Tuesday: “We’re going to change, because we do most of the work there, and it’s ours.”

Damn straight it’s ours! Are you going to tell me that 200 million years ago when the Pangea supercontinent was breaking up there weren’t big, strong American workers causing tectonic plates to shift and form our beautiful gulf?

Liberals probably wrote that in our history books, but thanks to voters like me, Trump will set the record straight.

Opinion: What will happen in 2025? Trump will always be right – and more guaranteed predictions.

Finally, a president who hates windmills as much as I do

The greatest president in history, speaking from his Mar-a-Lago resort, went on to bless us with this: “We’re going to try and have a policy where no windmills are being built.”

Praise the Lord! I know some in the MAGA community are more concerned about the economy, immigration and making life terrible for transgender people, but many of us picked Trump again because we abso-freakin’-lutely despise windmills.

See Don Quixote's La Mancha
See Don Quixote’s La Mancha

They are distracting and can easily be mistaken for giants, leading innocent Americans to tilt at them like the late, great Don Quixote used to do. (Hopefully, Trump will also soon announce that Don Quixote will be renamed “Don America.”)

MAGA voters wanted a president unafraid of Big Shower

Trump also addressed America’s shower-water-pressure crisis, saying: “When you buy a faucet, no water comes out because they want to preserve, even in areas that have so much water you don’t know what to do, it’s called rain, it comes down from heaven. … No water comes out of the shower. It goes drip, drip, drip.”

Finally, we will have a president with the meteorological knowledge to identify that rain correctly comes from heaven. This is clearly the man best suited to handle America’s nuclear codes.

Sure, Canadians will welcome us taking control of their country

Speaking of which, Trump also said he’d use economic force to annex Canada as America’s 51st state and “get rid” of the border, which he called an “artificially drawn line.”

Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don’t have the app? Download it for free from your app store.

Amen, sir. I voted for a man who believes borders are crucial, except for that one. Don’t worry, Mexico, you’ll be fine.

I can’t wait to watch President-elect Trump continue to make all his supporters’ dreams come true.

As long as those dreams involve whatever he happens to be talking about on any given day.

MAGA!

Avoiding This Type Of Drink Could Help Prevent Dementia—Plus, 13 Other Ways To Lower Your Risk, According To Doctors

Women’s Health

Avoiding This Type Of Drink Could Help Prevent Dementia—Plus, 13 Other Ways To Lower Your Risk, According To Doctors

Korin Miller – January 3, 2025

portrait of young woman lit by blue and red neon lights
14 Things You Can Do To Lower Your Dementia Risk Maria Korneeva – Getty Images

Dementia is a devastating condition that can affect everything from your thinking to your personality. And while you can’t always control your risk of developing the disease, new research finds there are at least 14 things you can do now to lower your chances down the road.

These “modifiable factors” were spelled out in an August 2024 report published in The Lancet, and doctors say they’re worth paying attention to.

“Simple switches in lifestyle can make a big difference in dementia risk,” says Amit Sachdev, MD, MS, medical director in the Department of Neurology at Michigan State University.

Here’s what you should know, according to doctors.

Meet the experts: Amit Sachdev, MD, medical director in the Department of Neurology at Michigan State University; Heshan J. Fernando, PhD, a clinical neuropsychologist for Corewell Health in Michigan; Verna Porter, MD, a neurologist and director of the Dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease and Neurocognitive Disorders at Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California.

What can you do now to lower your dementia risk?

These are the biggest lifestyle tweaks you can make now to lower your dementia risk, according to the report.

Take it easy with alcohol

Research finds that so-called “heavy” drinkers are more likely to develop dementia than “moderate” ones. But there’s good news: Even dropping your drinking levels from “heavy” to “moderate” will decrease your risk, a 2023 study found.

Avoid smoking

Smoking has been linked to dementia because it can increase the risk of problems with the heart and blood vessels, the Alzheimer’s Society says. Toxins in cigarettes also cause inflammation, which has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

Manage diabetes

“A growing body of research has implicated a strong link between metabolic disorders like diabetes and impaired nerve signaling in the brain,” says Verna Porter, MD, a neurologist and director of the Dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease and Neurocognitive Disorders at Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California.

By managing your diabetes, you could by reduce “inflammation in the brain, which in turn helps to protect” it, she says.

Try to maintain a healthy weight

Several studies have linked obesity with a higher risk of dementia—in fact, a scientific analysis published in JAMA in 2022 named obesity as one of the top modifiable causes of it.

Stay on top of your blood pressure

Research has found that lowering blood pressure in people with hypertension can lower the risk of dementia by about 15 percent.

Try to minimize air pollution exposure

Studies have suggested that people consistently exposed to a type of air pollution called fine particulate matter are more likely to develop dementia than those who aren’t exposed to it. These can come from construction sites, unpaved roads, fields, smokestacks or fires, or can be the result of complex reactions of pollutants, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Protect yourself from head injury

Research finds that a history of a single prior head injury was associated with a 1.25 times increased risk of dementia compared to people with no history of head injury. A history of two or more prior head injuries was associated with over two times increased risk of dementia.

Be physically active

Studies show that being physically active can help lower your risk of dementia. “Daily physical exercise—such as 20-30 minutes of light aerobic activity—can include activities such as walking, biking or aquatic pool exercises,” says Heshan J. Fernando, PhD, a clinical neuropsychologist for Corewell Health in Michigan.

Try to manage your mental health

A 2023 study found that people diagnosed with depression were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with dementia later in life. Medication, therapy, and healthy habits like eating right, exercising, and getting enough sleep can all play a role in treating mental health issues.

Be socially active

“Staying socially engaged may help protect against Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in later life,” Dr. Porter says, adding that it’s crucial to maintain a strong network of family and friends. “Social connections may also be enhanced through volunteer organizations, joining various clubs or social group, taking a group classes, or getting out into the community.”

Treat hearing loss

A 2024 study found that hearing loss is linked to a higher risk of developing dementia. However, hearing aid users were less likely to develop dementia than non-users.

Keep learning

Research has linked higher dementia risk to lower education levels. However, one study found that the odds of developing dementia fall in people who continue to learn.

“Education at any age may protect against cognitive decline,” Dr. Porter says.

Manage your cholesterol

Studies show that high cholesterol is linked with a higher risk of developing dementia and that the risk increases with age. Fernando recommends following a heart healthy diet like the Mediterranean diet that emphasizes fruits and vegetables, lean meats like chicken and fish, whole grains and healthy fats.

This “can help optimize blood flow to the brain,” he says.

Stay on top of your vision

Research has found that untreated vision loss increases the risk of dementia by about 50 percent, so go to the eye doctor when you can.

Multiple Arctic outbreaks to affect more than 250 million in central, eastern US into mid-January

AccuWeather

Multiple Arctic outbreaks to affect more than 250 million in central, eastern US into mid-January

Alex Sosnowski – January 1, 2025

Multiple Arctic outbreaks to affect more than 250 million in central, eastern US into mid-January

Round after round after round of Arctic air is poised to plunge into the central and eastern United States. AccuWeather meteorologists warn that each outbreak of Arctic air has the potential to bring colder air farther south than the previous round and will lead to a major surge in energy demands and the risk of freeze-related damage in the Southern states.

The magnitude and extent of the Arctic air will build into the first full week of January and linger through the middle of the month and will, at times, affect more than 250 million people living in more than 40 states in the Central and Eastern regions.

“At this time, it looks like there will be at least three major blasts of Arctic air that will affect the Southern states,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex DaSilva said. “The first outbreak will linger into Jan. 4, the second on Jan. 7-8 and then the third round on Jan. 11-12.” Additional rounds of Arctic air may follow but be directed more toward the Midwest and Northeast.

Each wave will bring a reinforcing shot of cool air, keeping air temperatures well below the norm for the first month of the year.

Even though each layer of cold coming in may stop short of the most extreme conditions in the past 10-15 years, the number of days spent below the historical average will add up in dozens of states from just east of the Rockies to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

“This is not record-setting cold, but the longevity of these cold waves, combined with snow on the ground in the Upper Midwest and northern Plains, will lead to a prolonged surge in heating demand,” AccuWeather Long-Range Expert Joe Lundberg said.

The prolonged nature of the cold, as a result, could end up making a splash on the record books, making it the coldest January in over a decade.

“This could end up being the coldest January since 2011 for the U.S. as a whole,” AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Expert Paul Pastelok said.

Another key factor as to how far to the south and east the extreme cold will be able to penetrate is that multiple storms are forecast to produce extensive swaths of snow and ice from the Great Plains to the Midwest, East and even well into the Southern states. Snow cover minimizes the warming effects of the ground and acts as a tundralike surface for the cold air to expand upon.

In the southern U.S., exposed or poorly insulated homes and buildings are at high risk of frozen and bursting pipes with the potential for major water damage. The persistence and magnitude of the cold can be enough to cause heat pump systems to struggle to keep up. As energy demands increase, the strain on the electric grid could force rolling blackouts.

Due to the magnitude and duration of freezing temperatures, cold-sensitive crops in the Gulf Coast states will be at risk from damage.

“At this time, the areas that are likely to be most vulnerable for crop-damaging freezes will be in central and northern Florida, southern Louisiana and parts of central Texas,” DaSilva said. “We are closely watching South Texas and South Florida for any indication of lower temperatures that could be damaging to agriculture.”

Much of the Great Lakes has little ice cover, leaving the exposed water to warm the Arctic air somewhat. However, persistent cold air will cause the ice cover to increase substantially. As the ice coverage increases, the warming effects of the Great Lakes will be reduced, opening up the Northeast to more exposure to extreme cold.

As the frigid air passes over the Great Lakes, it will quickly pick up moisture and result in heavy to extreme bands of lake-effect snow that could bury some towns under feet of snow and massive drifts. As the bands of snow move around with shifting winds, the snow can move away and then come back in some areas multiple times during the approximately two-week period through the middle of the month.

Commuters brave the wind and snow in frigid weather on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Periods of stiff winds will accompany the cold blasts. In some cases, the combination of frigid air, wind and precipitation will push AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures to well below zero for extended periods from the northern Plains to the Great Lakes and middle Mississippi and Ohio valleys.

Over time, the subzero RealFeel Temperatures will reach east of the Appalachians and into the Gulf Coast region.

The wavy nature of the Arctic air will be conducive to multiple winter storms across the central and eastern US, including a storm coming this weekend expected to unload areas of accumulating snow and ice.

The storms will vary in intensity and cover, but at least a couple of them can be so extensive and heavy as to result in major travel disruptions. Snow and ice will occur in parts of the Southern states, and with limited winter storm fighting equipment, extended periods of dangerous travel and school closings could result.

But even in the Midwest and Northeast, as the cold and snowy pattern intensifies, disruptions to travel and the potential for school closings will increase.

“Concerning” bird flu mutations in Louisiana patient underscores pandemic potential of H5N1

Salon

“Concerning” bird flu mutations in Louisiana patient underscores pandemic potential of H5N1

Nicole Karlis – December 31, 2024

Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

In 2024, at least 66 human cases of bird flu have been reported in the United States, each one raising the risk of another pandemic like COVID-19. So far, most cases have been described as “mild,” which means they weren’t hospitalized. No patients have died, though infections years ago had a very high mortality rate. Symptoms have typically included pink eye, but not serious respiratory distress.

However, a patient recently made headlines in Louisiana for being a more severe case. The patient, who is reportedly over the age of 65, was hospitalized and in critical condition due to severe respiratory symptoms.

Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said a genetic analysis suggests the virus mutated inside the patient to possibly make it a more severe illness in humans. The agency called the mutation “concerning,” as it may allow the virus to better bind to receptors in humans’ upper airways. This would make it easier to jump from person to person, sparking major outbreaks or even a pandemic. However, the public health agency said that the risk to the general public from the outbreak “has not changed and remains low.”

The CDC also stated that these mutations have not been detected in the bird flock that infected the patient, which would make the situation “more concerning.”

“These changes would be more concerning if found in animal hosts or in early stages of infection (e.g., within a few days of symptom onset) when these changes might be more likely to facilitate spread to close contacts,” the CDC said in its report. “Notably, in this case, no transmission from the patient in Louisiana to other persons has been identified.”

Still, every additional human case gives H5N1 more opportunities to adapt. As a study found earlier in December, it will only take one single mutation to make bird flu much worse. Out of the 66 human cases of bird flu that have been reported in 10 states, including some without reported outbreaks, all but two stem from exposure to either cows or poultry. Human-to-human transmission could be occurring undetected, but so far there is no hard evidence of such transmission.

In an interview with Intelligencer, Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan noted that these exact viral mutations have been seen in bird flu before, nearly two decades ago. The more concerning aspect of the emerging crisis, she said, was how the number of human cases keeps rising.

“Even though this particular virus from this particular case isn’t a huge concern in terms of onward transmission, if we’re having human cases tick up and up and up, we’re going to give the virus more chances to develop mutations,” Rasmussen explained. “And if that’s not detected and starts spreading in the human population, that’s a very good way to have a pandemic start out of this.”

Rasmussen also underlined the risk of reassortment — the potential for H5N1 to swap genes with human influenza virus, which could supercharge the spread of the pathogen. “That’s essentially like shuffling two decks of cards together, ending up making new viruses that have a combination of segments from both of the viruses that were infecting the person. That can lead to really, really rapid evolutionary jumps and rapid adaptation to a new host,” she said.

Over the weekend, Dr. Leana Wen, the former Baltimore health commissioner, told “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” that the United States should have learned its lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We should be having rapid tests, home tests, available to all farm workers, to their families, for the clinicians taking care of them, so that we aren’t waiting for public labs and CDC labs to tell us what’s bird flu or not,” she said. “We have 66 cases of bird flu in humans, and this is almost certainly a significant undercount, because we have not been doing nearly enough testing.”

She also urged the Biden administration to approve the H5N1 vaccine.

“There’s research done on it,” she said. “They could get this authorized now, and also get the vaccine out to farm workers and to vulnerable people.”

As Salon previously reported, public health experts aren’t optimistic the incoming Trump administration will handle the bird flu situation any better.

“If the Biden administration is not doing a good job, you can only imagine when you have certain individuals who are much more hostile towards these types of government action, it will get worse,” Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease and senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told Salon.

‘Worrisome’ mutations found in H5N1 bird flu virus isolated from Canadian teenager

Los Angeles Times

‘Worrisome’ mutations found in H5N1 bird flu virus isolated from Canadian teenager

Susanne Rust – December 31, 2024

**ADVANCE APRIL 22-23 ** A California Department of Food and Agriculture technician perform tests on chickens for the Avian Influenza viruses in poultry Friday, April 21, 2006, at the Best Live Poultry & Fish store in Sylmar, Calif. The stakes are especially high in California, where a $2.5 billion poultry industry ranks among the top 10 producers nationwide for dinner chicken, turkey and table egg output. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A California Department of Food and Agriculture technician perform tests on chickens for bird flu in 2006 at the Best Live Poultry & Fish store in Sylmar. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

The fate of a Canadian teenager who was infected with H5N1 bird flu in early November, and subsequently admitted to an intensive care unit, has finally been revealed: She has fully recovered.

But genetic analysis of the virus that infected her body showed ominous mutations that researchers suggest potentially allowed it to target human cells more easily and cause severe disease — a development the study authors called “worrisome.”

The case was published Tuesday in a special edition of the New England Journal of Medicine that explored H5N1 cases from 2024 in North America. In one study, doctors and researchers who worked with the Canadian teenager published their findings. In the other, public health officials from across the U.S. — from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as state and local health departments — chronicled the 46 human cases that occurred between March and October.

There have been a total of 66 reported human cases of H5N1 bird flu in the U.S. in 2024.

In the case of the 13-year-old Canadian child, the girl was admitted to a local emergency room on Nov. 4 having suffered from two days of conjunctivitis (pink eye) in both eyes and one day of fever. The child, who had a history of asthma, an elevated body-mass index and Class 2 obesity, was discharged that day with no treatment.

Over the next three days, she developed a cough and diarrhea and began vomiting. She was taken back to the ER on Nov. 7 in respiratory distress and with a condition called hemodynamic instability, in which her body was unable to maintain consistent blood flow and pressure. She was admitted to the hospital.

On Nov. 8, she was transferred to a pediatric intensive care unit at another hospital with respiratory failure, pneumonia in her left lower lung, acute kidney injury, thrombocytopenia (low platelet numbers) and leukopenia (low white blood cell count).

She tested negative for the predominant human seasonal influenza viruses — but had a high viral loads of influenza A, which includes the major human seasonal flu viruses, as well as H5N1 bird flu. This finding prompted her caregivers to test for bird flu; she tested positive.

As the disease progressed over the next few days, she was intubated and put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) — a life support technique that temporarily takes over the function of the heart and lungs for patients with severe heart or lung conditions.

She was also treated with three antiviral medications, including oseltamivir (brand name Tamiflu), amantadine (Gocovri) and baloxavir (Xofluza).

Because of concerns about the potential for a cytokine storm — a potentially lethal condition in which the body releases too many inflammatory molecules — she was put on a daily regimen of plasma exchange therapy, in which the patient’s plasma is removed in exchange for donated, health plasma.

As the days went by, her viral load began to decrease; on Nov. 16, eight days after she’d been admitted, she tested negative for the virus.

The authors of the report noted, however, that the viral load remained consistently higher in her lower lungs than in her upper respiratory tract — suggesting that the disease may manifest in places not currently tested for it (like the lower lungs) even as it disappears from those that are tested (like the mouth and nose).

She fully recovered and was discharged sometime after Nov. 28, when her intubation tube was removed.

Genetic sequencing of the virus circulating in the teenager showed it was similar to the one circulating in wild birds, the D1.1 version. It’s a type of H5N1 bird flu that is related, but distinct, from the type circulating in dairy cows and is responsible for the vast majority of human cases reported in the U.S. — most of which were acquired via dairy cows or commercial poultry. This is also the same version of the virus found in a Louisiana patient who experienced severe disease, and it showed a few mutations that researchers say increases the virus’ ability to replicate in human cells.

In the Louisiana case, researchers from the CDC suggested the mutations arose as it replicated in the patient and were were not likely present in the wild.

Irrespective of where and when they occurred, said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University in Providence, R.I., “it is worrisome because it indicates that the virus can change in a person and possibly cause a greater severity of symptoms than initial infection.”

In addition, said Nuzzo — who was not involved in the research — while there’s evidence these mutations occurred after the patients were infected, and therefore not circulating in the environment “it increases worries that some people may experience more severe infection than other people. Bottom line is that this is not a good virus to get.”

Well, Well, Well: Trump Gives up the Game on Project 2025

The New Republic

Well, Well, Well: Trump Gives up the Game on Project 2025

Edith Olmsted – November 22, 2024

Donald Trump is taking yet another page out of the authoritarian playbook Project 2025—and it’s the one with a list of MAGA loyalists for hire.

After trying desperately, often unconvincingly, to distance his campaign from Project 2025’s unpopular, extremist policies, Trump’s transition team has been using the right-wing playbook’s staffing database to make appointments within the new administration, a source familiar told NBC News.

“There’s a lot of positions to fill and we continue to send names over, including ones from the database as they are conservative, qualified and vetted,” the source, who had worked on Project 2025, told NBC News. “Hard to find 4,000 solid people, so we are happy to help.”

Paul Dans, the former director of Project 2025, once described his plans to make a “conservative Linkedin” containing information on thousands of potential hires for the Trump administration. He envisioned it as a personnel machine for rooting out the “deep state” and replacing federal employees with devoted MAGA loyalists.

Dans hoped his system would allow Trump to make big changes fast. “If a person can’t get in and fire people right away, what good is political management?” Dans said in December.

Earlier this week, Trump nominated Russ Vought, a Christian nationalist with ties to Project 2025, to lead the Office of Management and Budget. He also nominated Brendan Carr, who wrote the Project 2025 chapter on the Federal Communications Commission, to head that government agency.

Last week, Trump nominated John Ratcliffe, another Project 2025 author, to head the Central Intelligence Agency.

Scientists warn that a key Atlantic current could collapse, among other climate tipping points

NBC News

Scientists warn that a key Atlantic current could collapse, among other climate tipping points

Evan Bush – November 12, 2024

The Greenland Ice Sheet, Facing Intensifying Global Warming, Is Melting (Sean Gallup / Getty Images)
Icebergs drift by in Disko Bay at Ilulissat, Greenland, on July 16.
The Summary
  • A new report describes the dire state of Earth’s snow and ice.
  • Among other findings, it warns that several key climate tipping points appear more likely to be reached than previously thought.
  • They include ice melt that could cause severe sea-level rise and the collapse of a crucial ocean current that governs how heat cycles in the Atlantic Ocean.

Venezuela lost its final glacier this year. The Greenland Ice Sheet is losing, on average, 30 million tons of ice per hour. Ice loss from the Thwaites Glacier, also known as the “Doomsday” glacier because its collapse could precipitate rapid Antarctic ice loss, may be unstoppable.

These are just a few of the stark findings from more than 50 leading snow and ice scientists, which are detailed in a new report from the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative.

The report summarizes the state of snow and ice in 2024: In short, experts agree, it’s been a horrible year for the frozen parts of Earth, an expected result of global warming. What’s more, top cryosphere scientists are growing increasingly worried that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a key ocean current that governs how heat cycles in the Atlantic Ocean, is on a path toward collapse.

A rapid halt to the current would cause rapid cooling in the North Atlantic, warming in the Southern Hemisphere and extreme changes in precipitation. If that happens, the new report suggests, northern Europe could cool by about 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit in a decade.

The report highlights a shift in consensus: Scientists once thought tipping points — like the collapse of AMOC — were distant or remote possibilities. Now, some of those thresholds are appearing more likely to be crossed, and with less runway to turn the situation around.

“The latest science is not telling us that things are any different to what we knew before, necessarily, but it’s telling us with more confidence and more certainty that these things are more likely to happen,” said Helen Findlay, an author of the report and a professor and biological oceanographer at Plymouth Marine Laboratory in England. “The longer we record these things, and the longer we’re able to observe them and start to understand and monitor them, there’s more certainty in the system and we start to really understand how these tipping points are working.”

Thwaites glacier seen by Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA / Eyevine/ Redux)
The Thwaites glacier seen by the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite.

Last month, 44 leading scientists wrote in an open letter to leaders of Nordic countries that the collapse of AMOC remained “highly uncertain” but that evidence in favor of such a collapse was mounting, and risks have been underestimated. Dramatic changes to the AMOC, they warned, would “likely lead to unprecedented extreme weather” and “potentially threaten the viability of agriculture in northwestern Europe.”

The new report similarly draws attention to the risk of AMOC collapse.

Additionally, it projects that roughly two-thirds of glacier ice in the European Alps will be lost by 2050 if global greenhouse gas emissions keep their pace. Already, an estimated 10 million people are at risk of glacial outburst floods in Iceland, Alaska and Asia — a phenomenon already occurring as meltwater collapses ice dams and rapidly floods downstream. If high emissions continue, the report adds, models suggest that sea level could rise by roughly 10 feet in the 2100s, imperiling parts of many coastal cities.

The report was released as world leaders gathered Monday in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, for the United Nations’ COP29 climate conference.

“Timing is everything,” said Julie Brigham-Grette, a geosciences professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an author of the new report.

She said the group hopes to rattle world leaders to attention: “The sense of urgency couldn’t be higher. We’ve been talking about urgency for a decade. It almost starts to feel like a useless word. What’s more than ‘urgent?’ ‘Catastrophic?’ We’ve run out of ways to describe it.”

To date, the report says, world governments are falling short on the pledges they made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of the Paris Agreement.

Even if they were on track, those commitments are insufficient to reach global climate goals, the authors say. On paper, the world’s pledges would limit the rise in global temperatures to about 2.3 degrees Celsius (4.1 degrees Fahrenheit) this century. That’s well short of the goal to cap warming at 1.5 degrees C.

Global temperatures are currently on pace to rise more than 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit), on average.

The Greenland Ice Sheet, Facing Global Warming, Is Melting (Sean Gallup / Getty Images)
Melting icebergs crowd the Ilulissat Icefjord near Ilulissat, Greenland, on July 16.

“I feel quite frustrated,” Findlay said. “I don’t really understand how they’re missing the severity of the issue.”

In Baku on Monday, world leaders did agree to new rules for a global market to trade carbon credits. In a news release, COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev, who has been Azerbaijan’s minister of ecology and natural resources since 2018, said the agreement was a “game-changing” tool to direct climate financing to the developing world.

But he also acknowledged, in a speech to delegates, that the world is “on a road to ruin” under current climate policies.

That warning and the new report both come amid fears the U.S. will backslide on its climate commitments and pull out of the Paris Agreement after Donald Trump takes office in January. Trump wants to remove the U.S. from the international treaty, and he began that process during his first presidential administration. President Joe Biden reversed the move in 2021.

Peter Neff, a glaciologist and climate scientist at the University of Minnesota who was not involved in the new report, said its authors clearly communicated the scientific consensus.

“It’s nothing surprising for a glaciologist. Across the board, there’s not good news with respect to ice on Earth. It’s all, for the most part, going in one direction,” Neff said.

But he added that he still found the report’s findings to be staggering: “These documents can hit you like a ton of bricks, and that’s intentional.”

What does a second Trump presidency mean for climate change?

What does a second Trump presidency mean for climate change?
By Amber Phillips – November 12, 2024

The planet is at a “can’t-miss” moment to stop climate change, world leaders at an international climate summit warned this week.

Meanwhile, the United States has just elected a president who has described climate change as a “hoax,” and some of his allies have suggested doing away with entire federal agencies that deal with climate.

“You’ll have more oceanfront property,” Trump said during the campaign, as 2024 is on track to be the world’s hottest year on record.

Here’s what a second Trump presidency could mean for a rapidly warming planet and extreme weather.

The government may stop trying to reduce emissions:

Many scientists expect Trump to redo many of his first presidency’s antagonistic actions toward climate change, such as when he yanked the United States out of the Paris agreement, an international pact to lower emissions by a certain date.

That would create a vacuum that may not be filled by another world leader, climate analysts say. The Earth is already behind on its modest goals to prevent the worst ravages of climate change.“You can see the global difference with U.S. leadership and the U.S. leaning in, saying, ‘This is where we want to go,’” said Heather Reams, president of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, a right-of-center climate nonprofit that has endorsed Republican candidates. “It will be incumbent on other countries to lead now, but they may not have the same leverage as the U.S.”

The U.S. will increase drilling for oil:

“Drill, baby drill!” was literally in Republicans’ official policy platform. Trump argues that this will make oil prices cheaper and help the United States become less reliable on foreign oil. But that’s not where the world is heading, say climate experts. 

“Doubling down on fossil fuels is absurd,” U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said at the world climate summit Tuesday. “The clean-energy revolution is here.”But ironically, Trump’s emphasis on drilling could boost investments in clean energy, too, Ream said.

There’s bipartisan support in Congress for permitting reform, which would make it easier for all energy companies — oil, solar, wind — to get permits to produce more energy.“Republicans are laser-focused on energy dominance and reducing energy prices,” Reams said. “And that could benefit an all-of-the-above approach.”

The government may even get out of weather forecasting:

Project 2025, a blueprint for a future Republican administration that was written by many of the president-elect’s allies, calls for taking a hatchet to the government’s role in forecasting not only climate change but extreme weather. Trump distanced himself from the plan during the campaign, but much of it aligns with his priorities.

Project 2025 wants to scrub mentions of climate change in nearly every corner of the federal government, including eliminating departments — and even entire agencies — that deal with it. That would mean dramatically downsizing or getting rid of the United States’ hurricane forecasting agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and even the National Weather Service. Meanwhile, the plan calls for putting people who question the science of climate change into positions of leadership.

This week, Trump named Republican former congressman Lee Zeldin, a Trump loyalist without much experience in environmental policy, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates polluters.

Also this week, the Biden administration began requiring oil companies to pay a fee for emitting methane. But Trump could pretty easily roll that back, reports The Washington Post’s Maxine Joselow.“It’s kind of like ‘stick your head in the sand and the problem will go away,’” said Leah Stokes, a political scientist at the University of California at Santa Barbara and co-host of the climate podcast “A Matter of Degrees.” “But that isn’t how physics and climate change work. Even if you don’t think it’s real, it’s real. Even if you don’t talk about it, it’s still happening.”

Conservatives may prioritize clean-energy investments, despite large-scale Republican inaction on climate change, there is a growing conservative movement interested in addressing the problem, Reams noted, including a roughly 80-member Conservative Climate Caucus in the House of Representatives.

And Trump has a billionaire clean-energy tycoon in his inner circle, Elon Musk, who has said climate change is real and a threat.

The first test of whether Republicans in Congress are willing to move forward on clean energy will be whether they repeal President Joe Biden’s energy efficiency tax credits, to pay for broader tax cuts Trump is pushing. The clean-energy tax credits have become more popular than expected across the country. Americans who make climate-friendly upgrades to their homes are eligible for the credits, and by some estimates, three-quarters of investments go to Republican communities to help manufacture clean-energy products. This summer, 18 Republicans sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), asking him to keep the incentives.

Expect a major fight among Republicans about this, Reams predicted.

AMBER’S PICKS ANALYSIS
The best and worst candidates of 2024, By Aaron Blake 

Tracking Trump’s picks for his Cabinet and administration, By Washington Post staff 

The counties that picked the winning president every year since 2000, By Dan Keating 

No immunity decision in Trump’s hush money case as prosecutors weigh how to proceed, By Shayna Jacobs 

Scientists may have figured out why a potent greenhouse gas is rising. The answer is scary. By Shannon Osaka 

Biden races to Trump-proof his climate legacy, By Maxine Joselow 

Judge blocks Louisiana from requiring schools to display Ten Commandments, By Kim Bellware

Democratic warnings about Trump were not simply campaign rhetoric, By Philip Bump 

What Do Trump Voters Know About the Future He Has Planned for Them?

By Jamelle Bouie, Opinion Columnist – November 9, 2024

A group of people outdoors watching something out of frame.
People watch as election results come in, Times Square, New York, Nov. 5, 2024.Credit…Tanyth Berkeley for The New York Times

On Tuesday, Donald Trump became the first Republican in 20 years to win the national popular vote and the Electoral College.

The people — or at least, a bare majority of the voting people — spoke, and they said to “make America great again.”

What they bought, however, isn’t necessarily what they’ll get.

The voters who put Trump in the White House a second time expect lower prices — cheaper gas, cheaper groceries and cheaper homes.

But nothing in the former president’s policy portfolio would deliver any of the above. His tariffs would probably raise prices of consumer goods, and his deportation plans would almost certainly raise the costs of food and housing construction. Taken together, the two policies could cause a recession, putting millions of Americans — millions of his voters — out of work.

And then there is the rest of the agenda. Do Trump voters know that they voted for a Food and Drug Administration that might try to restrict birth control and effectively ban abortion? Do they know that they voted for a Justice Department that would effectively stop enforcement of civil and voting rights laws? Do they know they voted for a National Labor Relations Board that would side with employers or an Environmental Protection Agency that would turn a blind eye to pollution and environmental degradation? Do they know they voted to gut or repeal the Affordable Care Act? Do they know that they voted for cuts to Medicaid, and possible cuts Medicare and Social Security if Trump cuts taxes down to the bone?

Do they know that they voted for a Supreme Court that would side with the powerful at every opportunity against their needs and interests?

I’m going to guess that they don’t know. But they’ll find out soon enough.

I wrote about the stakes of the 2024 presidential election. We’ll see if I was right; I hope I had it wrong.

Should the United States take this path on Election Day, then we can expect the America we have to fade into the past, to be supplanted by an American Republic that is far more exclusive — and far more resistant to change. A majority of Americans may not want it, and they may not even expect it, but they’ll be on the way to living in a United States that treats the rights revolution of the 1960s and ’70s, to say nothing of the New Deal, as a legal and political mistake.